Reverend Allan Thompson passed away in Springfield, MO, on February 8, 2023.

Herbert Allan Thompson was born July 5, 1943, in Pine Bluff, AR. His family soon moved to Batesville, AR, and then to Lookout Mountain, TN, and then to Nashville, and eventually settled in Lawton, OK.

Allan had a natural comfort with writing and became the editor of the Lawton High School newspaper, The Tatler , in 1960. He was the Senior Class Vice President and was voted Most Dependable Senior Male because he was always there to help and cheer on his classmates.

Allan attended the University of Oklahoma (OU). While there, he joined Delta Upsilon (DU) and eventually became president of the fraternity. He scripted and directed a "Sooner Scandals" OU variety show act and met his future wife, Betty Bonifield, after she wrote a favorable review of the skit. His senior year at OU he was the editor of the Sooner Yearbook. Throughout his life he remained an avid OU football fan.

After college, Allan moved to New York City to be a field secretary for DU. He and Betty were married on June 10, 1967. Allan later became a sales rep, which took him to Philadelphia. He then became a general sales manager of a radio station, which sent him to Pittsburgh, PA. While in Pittsburgh, he and Betty had two daughters, Kelly and Kimberly. Allan then got a different job as a radio station general sales manager in St. Louis, and in 1984, he became the president/general manager of KGBX-AM in Springfield, MO, though the AM station was shut down in 1988.

In 1995, Allan enrolled in the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, and he graduated in 2000 with a Master of Divinity degree. He later ministered in inner cities, worked with developmentally disabled men, and was a jail chaplain. He always wanted to be a writer, and in 2012, he published his first book, 'Tis Grace . In 2014, he published his second book, What Salvation Is .

Allan was kind, empathetic, and always ready with a joke—most likely one that included a pun. He struggled with alcoholism for much of his life and took his last drink on September 26, 1991. Known to many as "Dee," he made everyone feel welcome and at ease, and he baked the best chocolate chip cookies.

Allan is preceded in death by his wife, Betty Thompson, his parents, Herbert and Catherine Thompson, and his brother, Michal Thompson.

Allan is survived by his daughter Kelly Rapp and her husband, Kevin Rapp; his daughter Kimberly Goldstein and her husband, Evan Goldstein; and three grandchildren: Bennett and Avery Rapp and Baylee Goldstein.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Monday, February 13, 2023, at the Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home at 1947 East Seminole, Springfield, MO 65804. The family will receive friends from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. beforehand at the same location.

Donations can be made to Declare the Word at www.declaretheword.com or to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research at give.michaeljfox.org.